St Margaret's College was privileged to host the 54th Otago Foreign Policy School during the last weekend in June.
The Otago Foreign Policy School is a sought-after event each year and the 2019 School was no exception with a full house of attendees.
The School was formally opened at 5 pm on Friday, 28 June 2019 by New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Winston Peters who also holds various ministerial portfolios, namely Foreign Affairs, Disarmament and Arms Control, State Owned Enterprises, and Racing.
The theme of this year's School was Economic Policy in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities. Over 140 delegates attended and were treated to a variety of interesting talks by academics, politicians, bankers, journalists and other experts.
This year, the School was directed by Dr Dennis Wesselbaum of the University's Department of Economics.
In keeping with the University's special town and gown relationship, the Mayor of Dunedin, Mr David Cull, and the University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise), Prof Richard Blaikie, welcomed everyone warmly to the School.
One of the speakers at the School was Hon. David Parker, Member of Parliament, Attorney General, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Minister for the Environment, Minister for Economic Development, Associate Minister of Finance. He spoke on the topic of "The Future of the WTO and Trade Structures."
The School received much publicity in the news media over the weekend. For instance:
- Economics add interest to foreign policy school
- Diplomacy - protecting our interests
- The crisis to come
- Minister Peters opens the 54th Otago Foreign Policy School
The College thanks all staff, led by Conference Manager, Rozi MacRae, who were involved in ensuring a successful event.
It was a pleasure to again host the 54th Otago Foreign Policy School at St Margaret's College. The 55th School has already been booked at the College for 2020!
(Story by the Master, Dr Charles Tustin)
